Hogtied - A Matt Houston Story
by boswifedeb
Summary: SUMMARY FOR "HOGTIED" Matt gets called in to help with the murders of two businessmen that are eerily similar and finds a clue that not only puzzles Hoyt, but blows the lid off of an out of town murder. Not my characters but I wish they were. **Immediately follows "Timeline of a Stalker"** Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**Hogtied**

****This story immediately follows "Timeline of a Stalker"****

**Mark Antony: "The evil that men do lives after them;**

**The good is oft interred with their bones".**

_**Act 3, scene ii of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare**_

**CHAPTER 1**

"Matt, are you coming to bed?" CJ padded into the den and found her husband of eighteen months right where he had been four hours earlier when she had turned in for the night. She walked over to the recliner where he was asleep with his laptop open and earbuds stuck in his ears. Once again he had crashed while trying to get through a lecture on Fire Technology. After being asked to assist the Fire Marshal's office in some of their investigations, he was trying to learn about fires in order to have a better understanding of the job. But with him still working full time it was proving to be a challenge. His job as a private investigator was not always a nine to five job: he was often out until all hours and sometimes got very little or no sleep at all. Gently she pulled out the earbuds and closed the laptop, moving it to the table. As she went to cover him up with an afghan he woke up.

"Hey." He reached up and patted her hip.

"Looks like you fell asleep in class again." She smiled down at him, rubbing her hand against the stubble on his chin.

"Sorry Babe." Matt yawned and rubbed his eyes. He sat upright in the recliner and stood up, pulling CJ into his arms and kissing her. "You know, you look a whole lot better in that jersey than I ever did." She was wearing one of his high school football jerseys. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek. "Love you."

"Love you. But I think you better go crawl in the bed and get some sleep." She ran her fingers through the hair on his neck.

"Only if you're with me." He kissed her again, clearly wanting to do more than go to sleep. She took him by the hand and led him back down the hallway to their bedroom.

The next morning when Matt woke up the house was absolutely quiet. He looked at the clock: 9:24. Rolling over, he found that CJ was gone and in her place was a note.

**Matt, **

**Thought I would let you sleep in this morning. Catey and I are at the office. I left you some waffles in the microwave.**

**Love,**

**CJ**

He lay back down and stared at the ceiling and sighed. When he had decided to help out the Fire Marshal's office he had wanted to take the classes, and he still did; but his schedule was making what should have been fairly simple into something that was quickly becoming a pain in the butt. When he was a kid growing up in Houston, Texas Matt's dad had always taught him that no matter what you did, do it well or don't do it at all. Houston didn't make promises that he couldn't keep. That was another thing Daddy had taught him and he took it seriously. He decided that he was going to cut down on his caseload at the office until he got done with the classes; that was the only way he was going to be able to pull it off. The problem was that his Uncle Roy who worked at the detective agency along with CJ and himself was out of town and would be for a while. He, along with his son Will and Matt's best friend Vince Novelli were installing security systems for a chain of jewelry stores across the country. Right now they were in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Matt got out of the bed and headed to the shower. He was just going to have to back off on his caseload. It was at that point that he decided that he wouldn't take on any cases except for the ones his other best friend, Lt. Michael Hoyt of the LAPD asked for help with. Matt had been a consultant to the department since the days that Vince Novelli had been on the job. Hoyt had transferred in and taken Vince's place in the department after he was shot while working with Matt on a case.

Stepping out of the shower and drying off, he decided to call CJ and tell her his plan before anyone else could try to hire him for a new job. As he pulled a pair of jeans and a blue button-down collar shirt out of the closet he pushed the number for the office on his cell phone and hit the speaker button.

"Houston Investigations." Chris Chase, his secretary sounded like she was in a good mood.

"Mornin'. Is CJ around there?" He pulled on his socks as Chris assured him that she was and put him on hold.

"Hi there. Did you decide to wake up?" CJ was giving Catey Rose yet another bottle.

"Yeah, thanks by the way. Look, I've gotta draw the line somewhere on my workload, so don't take any more cases unless it's Michael, okay?" He pulled on his jeans and was working his belt through the loops.

"Good. I was hoping you would figure that out – that's exactly what I was thinking about on the way in this morning." She was relieved that Matt had come to the conclusion.

"Aha, I see. Well, I'm going to go dive into the waffles and then me and my school books will be there as soon as we can. Love you, Babe." He zipped up the jeans and pulled on his boots.

"Love you, Honey. See you in a little bit. 'Bye." She hung up and looked down at her now five month old daughter, Catherine Rose Houston. "Daddy's a pretty smart cookie. Now maybe we'll get to see a little more of him." Catey grinned and gurgled her approval, then went back to attacking the bottle as Chris walked into the office with some papers for CJ.

"She's really been going through the bottles the last couple of weeks." Chris reached down and tickled Catey's foot causing the infant to start giggling.

"Yes she has. I've decided to go ahead and start her on cereal. It seems like she hardly gets done with one bottle before she's hungry for another one."

"She's a growing girl." Chris tickled the baby's foot again and Catey launched into another fit of giggles. "You know, she looks a lot like her daddy when she laughs."

"Yep, she's acting more like him every day. And getting more stubborn to boot."

"Well she gets that from both of her parents." Chris grinned at CJ as she walked back out to her desk in the outer office.

Matt stepped off the elevator forty five minutes later. "Mornin', Chris. How's the married life treating you?"

"Just fine. Murray cooked again last night – this time it was butterfly shrimp." She was extremely proud of her new husband.

"So he's branching out, huh? Or did Mama Novelli threaten him if he kept trying to show her up?"

He headed on up the stairs as Chris laughed and said, "Maybe he should go to work for her."

"Nah, he loves it here too much – besides, he would miss you. I know you wouldn't leave us, now would you?" He stopped and turned to face Chris.

"I don't know…." She grinned.

Matt walked on into CJ's office and gave her a kiss and a big hug. "Thanks, Babe."

"You're welcome. You never even twitched when the alarm went off. I figured you needed it." She got up and pulled a paper out of the printer. "Time to hit the books, college boy." She smacked him on the rear.

"Uh, that's not going to make me want to work on school you know." He wiggled his eyebrows at her before picking up his daughter and getting a good morning kiss from her. She giggled as she patted on his cheek, then pulled her hand back and looked at it.

"Daddy forgot to shave this morning." CJ laughed at the expression on her daughter's face.

"No, Daddy left it there on purpose." He kissed Catey and put her back in the playpen and handed her a ball that rattled before heading out of his wife's office and into his own little-used office. He hadn't set foot in it since before Catey was born and he was working on a case with Hoyt and an agent from Homeland Security. That was when he had his tonsils out. He looked around. Usually he preferred to do most of his work on BABY, the computer that was installed inside the coffee table in front of the couch, but he was running behind on his school work and decided that he needed to be away from any distractions so he could catch up. He had an exam coming up in two weeks and had a good bit to accomplish before then.

After putting his books on the desk, Matt walked back out and grabbed a cup of coffee then went back in and closed the door of his office. He had been watching a lecture for about twenty minutes when the phone rang and there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Chris stuck her head in the door. "Hey, Michael's on line one for you."

"Thanks Chris." He picked up the phone and pushed line one. "Hey there, pard, what's up?"

"Oh, you mean besides my blood pressure and the price of gas?" Michael Hoyt was stressed out as usual.

"You can't blame me for the gas prices anymore, Hoyt. I'm not in the business, remember?" At one time Matt had owned one of the top five oil companies in the country.

"Uh huh, I remember. Look, I need a fresh set of eyes to look at a couple of cases. Think you can help me?"

Matt didn't really want to, but he knew Michael wouldn't call if he didn't need the help badly. "Sure. Where?"

"My office." Hoyt had pulled the bottle of antacid out of his desk drawer and was about to take a sip.

"Did you eat your yogurt?" Matt loved pulling this particular trick on Hoyt – the overworked police lieutenant had searched his office several times thinking that Matt had installed one of his "critters" as he liked to call the tiny surveillance cameras that he had helped to design.

"Yes I did – and you and I need to talk. You have got to get that camera out of here, Houston." As the words came out of his mouth, he was looking around the office trying to figure out where in the hell the PI had planted it.

"See you in a few. 'Bye." Matt hung up and was snickering as he closed the laptop. He loved driving Hoyt crazy like that. He headed over to CJ's office and told her about going to see Hoyt.

She looked at him and shook her head then looked at her watch. "You didn't even get halfway through a lecture, did you?"

"Nope, not even a third of the way. See you in a little while." He kissed her. "Love you."

"Love you, too. I may have to chain you to that desk before it's over with."

"And how do you expect me to get any work done when you're talking about chains?" The last was said as he went down the steps and into the outer office where Chris had a shocked look on her face. He just smiled as he hit the button for the elevator and hopped inside.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

As Matt got out of his truck in the parking garage of the police station he grabbed the ID that he had been issued by the department and put it around his neck. He skipped the lobby and went straight to the stairwell. Since he and CJ had been married he had put on a few pounds. Although she was happy about it, he was trying to keep from gaining any more.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Matt opened the door to the fourth floor corridor and found himself right behind Hoyt who was getting a cup of water from the cooler. Sanchez had spotted him and was grinning: he knew that Matt loved nothing better than a good prank and was certain that he wouldn't pass up such a good opportunity. The PI eased up behind the lieutenant and poked him in the ribs causing him to jump and splash water all over the front of his suit. When he spun around, Matt was near tears with laughter as were Sanchez and a couple of other cops who had caught the prank.

"Damn it, Houston! When are you going to grow up? And why in the hell did you come up the stairs? You already proved your point about security around here." He started stalking toward his office as his fellow officers were all snickering and guffawing. "Brothers in blue, huh?" Hoyt went on into the office as Matt and Sanchez high-fived each other. The minute Matt got into the office and the door was closed, Hoyt launched in on him. "And where in the hell is that damn camera of yours, Houston? I want it out of here – RIGHT NOW!"

Matt put an innocent look on his face. "What camera?"

"You know damn well what camera. Get it out of here." Hoyt sat down behind his desk.

"Hoyt, I don't have a camera in here." He sat down in the chair in front of the lieutenant's desk. "Where are the files you want me to look at?"

"Here – and before you leave I want that camera taken down."

"There is no camera – I keep telling you that." Matt opened up the first folder and started reading through the information.

"Then how in the hell do you know when I'm taking the antacid?"

"I just do." He kept on reading. The case was about the murder of a local businessman, Reese Smithson. Matt had heard about it on the news last week. He had been found in the trunk of his car, tied up and gagged, and sporting two bullet holes in his head. No prints other than his own were found in or on the car and no DNA was found. He had no criminal record.

Matt opened up the second case file. This one he hadn't heard about. The body of another businessman, Richard Bogard was found in the trunk of his car, tied, gagged, and with two bullet holes in his head. No other fingerprints had been found on the car and once again, the man had no criminal record. The private investigator closed the folder.

"So what does it sound like to you?" Hoyt was busy dabbing at the water on his shirt.

"Double tap to the head sounds like a mob hit." Matt looked up at his friend. "I take it they didn't have any known connections to the mob?"

"Not a one. No records on either of them, other than a speeding ticket on the second guy and that was back about fifteen years ago."

Matt leaned back in his chair, propped his left ankle on his right knee, and rubbed at the beard that was quickly forming on his face. "Did they have any connections to each other?"

"Not that we've been able to track down."

"Okay, what about family? Were both of them married and if so, were they having problems at home?" The private investigator knew, as did Hoyt, that usually there was some kind of connection between murder victims that appeared to be killed at the hand of the same killer.

"Both were married and we've been told that there weren't any problems in their home life." Hoyt leaned back in his desk chair and put his hands behind his head.

"What about the knots? Were they tied up the same?" Matt thought back to the first case that he and Hoyt had worked together. The knots used were part of what helped them catch the killer.

"Uh, that's a good question. It should be in the pictures there."

Matt put the folders up on the desk and opened them up to the crime scene photos. "I'll be damned." He stared in shock.

"What is it?"

"I can tell you right now that whoever did this has quite possibly either worked on a farm or ranch." He picked up the better of the two pictures. "See how this is woven and wrapped around here three times and the tail was pulled through right here?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So that's how you tie a calf – you've seen calf roping in a rodeo?"

"Not really."

Matt stared at the pictures once more. "Okay, they don't look it, but did either one of these guys have anything to do with ranching or rodeos?"

"Not that I know of – but then I had no reason to ask. Let me call their wives and see." He walked back around the desk and turned the folders to face him, and dialed the first victim's number and got the man's wife on the line. "Mrs. Smithson, this is Lt. Michael Hoyt, LAPD. I hate to bother you at a time like this but I need to ask you a question about your husband. Did he have anything to do with a rodeo or ranching by chance? No, not at all. Did he know of anyone who did? Okay, thanks for your time." He hung up and dialed the second number but didn't get an answer. "They may not be answering the phone."

"Or they might be making funeral arrangements." Matt looked at the pictures once again. "Can we go up and take a look at the cord that was used here?" He tapped on the pictures with his index finger.

"Sure. Let me call and give Cheryl a heads up." After getting off of the phone with her, he and Matt got on the elevator and went up two floors to the forensics lab.

Cheryl Crawford was waiting for them with the bagged evidence already sitting on the table. "Hey Houston, how are you doing?"

Matt put his arm around the CSI tech. "Pretty good. I heard that somebody got engaged." He looked at her left hand. "Yup, I'd say that's an engagement ring."

"Well I had to – you know, since you decided to marry CJ and left me high and dry. Broke my heart." The pair both laughed.

"So when is the big day?"

"We haven't set a date yet. Probably sometime next year."

"Well congratulations – and I'm sorry I broke your heart." Matt grinned then his expression turned serious. "Are these the cords here?"

"Yep. Lieutenant, you'll have to open the bags – you know the drill." She held out a box of gloves to both men who donned them. Hoyt sliced the security seal on one bag and handed the cord to Matt while he opened the other bag.

Matt examined the cord. "Yep, this is a piggin' string."

"I thought you said it was used on calves." Hoyt had a perplexed look on his face.

"It is." Matt handed the first one back to the cop and looked at the second one. "Yep, that's what they are alright. Looks like they're from the same manufacturer."

"Okay, you got me – what in the hell is a piggin' string?" Cheryl gave the private investigator a puzzled look.

"You ever watch the rodeo on TV?" Matt handed the second item back to Hoyt who was sealing the bags again and initialing them as well as signing the evidence log. Cheryl nodded. "You know when the cowboys rope the calf and then run up, flip it on its side and tie up three of the legs?" She nodded again and he motioned to the strings. "That's what they use. I'm sure you've heard the term "hogtied"?"

"Well, I guess it's true: you do learn something new every day." She patted Matt on the back as he removed the gloves.

"What caliber of bullet was it - .22?" He tossed the gloves into the garbage can.

"Sure was. I was thinking mob hit but now that you told us about the rodeo tie in – pardon the pun – I'm not so sure." Cheryl took the two bags and put them back in the cardboard file boxes that were being used to hold the evidence from the cases.

Matt looked at Hoyt. "We need to talk to Bogard's wife."

"I guess we'll have to go over there since we can't get an answer on the phone. I just hope she's actually there." He turned and started toward the door.

"Congratulations again, Cheryl." Matt gave the tech a hug and followed Hoyt to the elevator.

As they rode down to the parking garage Hoyt looked over at his friend. "What about the camera?"

"Hoyt, I've told you – there is no camera." Matt stared at the changing numbers and was the first to step out when the car stopped.

"Look, you couldn't possibly know what I'm doing unless you were seeing it or you're psychic." He stopped in his tracks, thinking back to the case that he and Matt had worked with the ATF and Homeland Security. Matt had been having nightmares that actually turned out to be premonitions. If not for him and what he had seen in his dreams, there might have been mass casualties at the Twenty Nine Palms Marine Base.

Houston was waiting on the passenger side of Hoyt's car. He looked at the lieutenant and smiled and arched an eyebrow at him. "Michael?"

"Huh?" Hoyt was dumbfounded.

"Unlock the door so we can get to work, please. I've got schoolwork to do."

Looking somewhat frightened, Hoyt did as he was told and they took off for the home of Richard Bogard. Neither man spoke for a few minutes, but Hoyt kept cutting his eyes over at Houston. Twice he started to say something, and then thought better of it. Then Matt started snickering.

"Oh shut up." Hoyt was afraid to say anything else. They pulled up in front of the Bogard house fifteen minutes later. There were three cars in the driveway. As they walked up to the door, a man stepped out on the porch.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He looked at the two detectives somewhat suspiciously until Hoyt showed his badge.

"Lt. Michael Hoyt, LAPD and this is Matt Houston, a consultant to the department. We need to speak with Mrs. Bogard, please."

"Sure, come on in. Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, guys. We've had a lot of reporters showing up and asking questions." He led them into the den of the home where Mrs. Bogard was sitting on the couch with two other women who turned out to be her sisters. "Janie, Lt. Hoyt and Mr. Houston are here to see you."

The woman looked up at the detectives, her red-rimmed and puffy eyes a testament to her grief. "Please – have a seat." She indicated a pair of armchairs and the two men sat down.

"Mrs. Bogard, I realize that this is a difficult time for you, but Mr. Houston and I need to ask you a couple of questions. Now this may sound strange, but – did your husband have any connections to ranching, farming, or rodeos?"

Janie Bogard's expression changed from one of grief to complete confusion. "I'm sorry – did you say rodeo?"

"Yes ma'am." Matt spoke up. "As I'm sure you've heard, your husband was tied up. The cord used is what's known as a piggin' string – it's used to tie up calves in calf roping and when working on a ranch."

The three women looked at Matt with shocked expressions. The one to Mrs. Bogard's left spoke. "Mr. Houston, we were led to believe that Richard's death might have been mob related. He had no connections to either the mob or ranching."

"Do you know if he had any contact at all with someone who does?" Hoyt had a feeling that they weren't going to get anything at all out of this questioning.

"No, not that I know of – I can't think of anyone that we know who does." The widow broke down again and Matt exchanged a look with Hoyt.

"Thank you for your time, ma'am." Matt stood up as did Hoyt and they headed toward the front door followed by the man who had led them into the den.

"Are you guys serious about the – what did you call it?"

"Yes sir. It's called a piggin' string. Thanks for your help." Matt opened the door and started on down the sidewalk and got into the car. As they were pulling away from the curb, he blew out a big sigh. "Well that was a complete waste of time."

"We had to ask." Hoyt drove on in silence.

"Okay, I'm going to go back to the office and see what I can find on these guys. Maybe something will pop. And I'm also going to see if there are any rodeos going on around here now." Matt couldn't believe that the men had been tied up like calves.

"You know, it occurs to me: if you were psychic, you would have known that we wouldn't get any answers there." Hoyt gave Matt a smug look.

"I knew you were going to say that." Houston snickered as Hoyt muttered under his breath.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Back at the office, Matt was sitting on the couch in front of BABY trying to find more information on Reese Smithson and Richard Bogard. Since Smithson was the first victim, Matt started with him. At the time he died, Smithson was one week shy of his forty sixth birthday. He had owned a sporting goods store on La Brea and had been in business for himself there for almost twenty years, which was impressive considering that there were two nationwide chain sporting goods stores within a six block radius. Not seeing anything that would result in the man's murder in the recent past, Matt decided to go back a ways. Smithson had been born and educated in Iowa, leaving the state when he joined the Army right out of high school. After a four year hitch during which time both of his parents had died, he ended up being discharged in California and evidently had decided that he liked the state. He started working in a sporting goods store less than a month after his discharge and then opened his own store the same year that he got married to Elizabeth Gaither. Two years later they had a son, and two years after that a daughter. Everything seemed perfectly normal and mundane.

Switching gears, Matt began looking into the life of Richard Bogard, who had been born in California to an Army colonel and then bounced from post to post while growing up. When he graduated from high school in North Carolina he headed off to college at North Carolina State where he played basketball for the Wolfpack. He graduated four years later with a degree in accounting and had followed his family to California and settled down, marrying Janie Walters and fathering two girls. Matt was stumped: if there was any connection between Reese Smithson and Richard Bogard he couldn't see it.

CJ came and sat down next to him on the couch. "So what have you got?"

"Not much. Both of these guys were found murdered in the trunks of their cars, tied up with piggin' strings, with two .22 gunshots to the backs of their heads. As far as I can tell that's the only connection they have to each other."

"Piggin' strings? Like in calf roping?" CJ was as surprised as Matt had been.

He nodded. "And according to their wives, neither had anything to do with ranching or rodeos." Matt leaned back and put his arm around CJ. "Or each other, for that matter."

"Hmmm…that's odd for sure."

"And there aren't any rodeos going on in town right now. The closest one is in Bakersfield."

"Unless someone is just randomly picking their victims, there has got to be a connection somewhere." They were both quiet for a moment. "Maybe it's a button man for the mob who wanted to be a cowboy." She cut her eyes over at Matt.

"I don't know – but I do know that this cowboy is getting hungry. And I'm willing to bet that my beautiful cowgirl is, too." He kissed her on the cheek.

"Yep, that's why I ordered some lunch a little while ago. Think you can handle some pizza?"

"Uh huh." Matt pulled her in closer. "And I'd like another helping of you." He kissed her again and neither one heard Chris when she informed them that the pizza had arrived. It took her three tries to get their attention.

After he paid for the pizza Matt grinned sheepishly at Chris. "Want some?" He waved the box in the air.

"No thanks – I've got a lunch date with Murray. 'Bye!" She headed for the elevator.

"Well, Mrs. Houston," Matt walked in and set the pizza on the poker table, "It's just the two of us." He pulled her back into his arms and just as his lips touched hers, Catey Rose started fussing. Matt shook his head and smiled. "Correction: it's the three of us. I'll check her diaper if you'll get the bottle. Deal?"

"Deal." CJ was laughing as she made her way behind the bar, pulling a bottle out of the mini fridge and popping it into the microwave. She could hear Matt and Catey talking and carrying on as he took her down to the nursery for a fresh diaper. In a couple of minutes they were back upstairs and the family sat down for lunch.

"So what's your plan with the case?" CJ was helping Catey with her bottle and munching on pizza at the same time.

"I don't know." Matt took a bite and thought. "I guess I could go nose around the rodeo in Bakersfield but I really don't have any suspects that I know of, so…"

"Other than somebody who knows about roping calves." She took another bite.

"Right. But that could be anybody there – or nobody." He shook his head and wiped his mouth. "At this point, it seems like a waste of time."

"I agree. So you're going to work on your school stuff after lunch."

"Yep – unless I get something else to go on." He picked up another slice and started to take a bite but stopped midway.

"What?" CJ saw the gears clicking in his head.

"I wonder…" Matt pulled out his phone and called Hoyt. "Hey, I've got a question. Who found the bodies?" He listened and scrunched up his face. "Okay. No, not yet. I can't find a single thing to connect them or point to the killer. Yeah. 'Bye." He hung up. "They were both reported missing by their wives when they didn't come home." Matt went back to his pizza and finished the slice, then stood up and kissed CJ on the cheek. "Time to get some work done." He left his two ladies to finish lunch and went into his office to finish the lecture.

By the time 4:30 rolled around, Matt had finished catching up on his school work and was actually a little bit ahead. He walked out of his office and over to check on CJ who was just wrapping up what she was working on. "You about ready to head for home?" He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Uh huh. You?" She stacked up some papers and put them in a folder and shut down her computer.

"Uh huh." He pulled her in tighter and started nibbling on her earlobe and then turned her to face him and gently pushed her back against the desk.

"Uh, Cowboy, you're forgetting where you are…" She was getting distracted by the kisses along her neck.

"Mmmh." He didn't seem to care where he was, other than the fact that he was with her.

"Hon, we need to …oh boy, yeah we definitely need to…mmmh." Her objections were muffled by the kiss that he was giving her. Chris started into the office to tell them that she was on her way home but decided that they would figure that out when they came up for air. Suddenly Catey made her presence known from the nursery. Matt dropped his head and then looked up at CJ.

"She says it's time to go home, Daddy." She kissed her husband lightly on the lips, then whispered in his ear: "We'll continue this later."

After a lonely ride home alone in the truck, Matt took Catey down to the barn to check the horses and go for their nightly ride while CJ was working on supper. When they came back up, Catey got her first taste of baby cereal which she seemed to enjoy mixed into her milk. Both Matt and CJ were laughing at her smacking her lips and smiling. After having her bath, Catey drifted right off to sleep when Matt put her in her crib. As they stood in the doorway watching her, Matt wrapped his arms around CJ and gently nuzzled her neck.

"Kinda makes you want to go ahead with the next one, doesn't it?" She turned to face him.

"Yeah, it does, but I want to be sure that you're physically ready for it, CJ." He brushed back her hair and kissed her again. "And Carol suggested waiting a year, right?"

"Uh huh." She rested her head on his chest.

"So, we wait." He kissed her again. "But that doesn't mean we can't practice ya know." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, causing her to laugh as he picked her up and carried her back to their room.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

At 4:15am the phone next to Matt's head rang. He opened one eye and looked at the clock. "Damn." He answered knowing who it would be. "Yeah Hoyt, what is it?"

"Another businessman – just like the other two." The police lieutenant was standing next to the SUV of Darren Lorimar as two patrolmen cordoned off the area with yellow crime scene tape.

Matt groaned. "Where?" He took down the address. "I'll be there ASAP." He hung up.

CJ was propped on one elbow. "Another one?"

"Yep." He walked over to the dresser and started pulling out socks, tossed them on the bed and went to the closet for jeans and a t-shirt. He got dressed, pulled on his boots and pulled his Glock out of the bedside table.

"Be careful, hon." She was sitting up on the side of the bed as he pulled a ball cap out of the closet and put it on.

He walked back over and kissed her gently on the lips. "I will. Love you, Babe."

"Love you, too." She watched as he walked out of the room. She hated it when he got called out at night. After being married for eighteen months she thought it would get easier, but if anything it had gotten harder. She tossed and turned for a while, then got up and walked into the den, plopping down in Matt's recliner. His school books were sitting on the table and out of sheer boredom and trying to get her mind off of her husband leaving, CJ picked one up and started looking through it and it occurred to her that she might be wise to learn about fire technology as well so that she and Matt could discuss cases on a more equal level. "It's gotta be easier than law school." She chuckled as she walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot before sitting down at the table and going through the book.

After a twenty minute drive through the pre-dawn streets of Los Angeles, Matt arrived at the crime scene. He yawned as he got out of his truck and sauntered over to where Hoyt was standing at the back of a champagne-colored SUV. "Mornin'." He yawned again.

"Sorry to get you out of the bed so early." Hoyt yawned and pointed at the body. "Darren Lorimar, age 44, owns the dry cleaners here. He was working late catching up on the books according to his wife. She fell asleep waiting on him and called in to report him missing at 3:45. Dispatch sent a patrol car over here and they saw him through the back window and popped the hatch. Charlie Mason is on his way over – he got hung up by a three car pile-up." The detective stepped back so that Matt could take a closer look.

"Well, it's another piggin' string, just like the other two. Same head wounds." Matt stepped back and yawned again, while raising up his cap and scratching the back of his head. He put the cap back on and walked over to the door of the business while pulling a pair of gloves out of his back pocket. After yawning once more, he reached for the door and much to his surprise it opened right up. "Hoyt, the door is unlocked." He waited for the lieutenant to come over. Matt eased the door open and checked the floor near the door and saw nothing so he stepped inside. Carefully looking around, he stepped to the counter but didn't see anything out of place so he started on back to the rear of the store. Half of the lights in the building were on and the two detectives could both see fairly well. Matt carefully pushed open the door to the office. "Hmmm. Looks like there was one hell of a struggle here." Papers were strewn across the floor, a cup of coffee spilt on top of them, and the computer monitor had been busted. They continued to look around and Matt saw something small and shiny on the floor next to the overturned chair. As he knelt down, he figured out what it was: the barb off of a taser. He looked over his shoulder at Hoyt. "This explains how he's getting them tied up and into the trunks." Standing back up he looked around some more. "I didn't see anything in the other two reports about wounds from taser barbs. Did I miss it?"

"No, you didn't. I'm wondering if the ME missed something." The two exchanged a look. There was a big controversy going on at the time over the current medical examiner not being thorough enough. Feathers had been ruffled and if what Matt suspected was true, then the feathers were more than likely going to be flying.

"I'd sure hate to be a fly on the wall when the poop hits the fan." Matt turned and walked back out into the store.

"You may be more than a fly on the wall – you may be giving testimony. We'll have to have the other two bodies re-examined to see if there were any barb marks on them." Hoyt hated beaurocracy. All he wanted to do was get rid of the bad guys and get them off of the streets. But all of the politics that went on in the department were enough to drive any cop away from the job – especially one that had put up with it for fifteen-plus years.

They walked back out to find Charlie Mason had arrived. Hoyt told him about the scene inside and he nodded, but he didn't look surprised at all when they told him about the taser barb lying on the floor. "I'll take care of it."

Matt looked at his phone: it was almost 5:30. He yawned again and looked at Hoyt. "You done here?"

"Yep." They started walking toward the crime scene tape.

"I'll buy breakfast and we can talk about." Matt pulled his keys out of his pocket.

"You're on. Where?"

"Waffle Hut?" He stopped and turned to look at his friend.

"Meet you there." Both men got into their vehicles and pulled away, leaving the flashing lights and yellow tape to watch over the scene.

Matt and Michael were both on their second cup of coffee when their order was brought to the table. Neither had said much while they were waiting and even less after the food arrived. When they had finished eating and were working on a third cup of coffee, Matt finally spoke. "I looked into Bogard and Smithson yesterday and didn't find squat connecting them. Now this guy." He shook his head. "Other than the fact that all three owned their own businesses and all died the same way, I'm not seeing a connection." Neither man spoke for a minute. "Business organizations, lodges…" He and Hoyt looked up at each other at the same time. "I didn't see anything about these guys belonging to the BBB or the Masons or anything, but I hadn't thought of it."

"It's worth a look." Hoyt drained his coffee cup and sat it down.

"Let's go pull up BABY." Matt put some money down on the table and the pair walked out and left for Matt's office. As soon as he stepped off of the elevator, the private investigator headed for the bar to make coffee.

"I'll take care of the coffee. You go get started on the computer." Hoyt went behind the bar.

Matt looked at his watch: 6:45. He turned on the computer and waited for it to boot up, then began looking into whether the men had belonged to the BBB or any other business organization. He hit pay dirt. "All three belonged to the BBB and the Small Business Association of Los Angeles."

Hoyt stepped over the back of the couch and sat down. "Okay, that's a start. So we know they quite possibly associated with each other at the meetings. We can find out about other members and maybe one of them will be able to tell us something useful. Good."

"I doubt if we're going to find membership rolls of the lodges and such online. A lot of that stuff is supposedly secret. We'll probably do better to talk to the widows about that." He leaned back for a minute. "I think we should start with the most recent – I'm sure she's not in bed, ya know?"

Michael nodded. He pulled out his notebook and looked up the address of Darren Lorimar. "You want to ride with me?"

"Sure." They got up and headed on down to the parking garage and loaded up in Hoyt's car for the fifteen minute trip to Lorimar's home. When they arrived, there were two cars in the driveway. Hoyt parked on the street and the pair went on up the sidewalk to the front door. Matt rang the doorbell. An older lady came to the door. Hoyt flashed his badge and introduced himself and Matt, asking to speak with Mrs. Lorimar and the pair was ushered into the living room.

Once again, Hoyt introduced them and they were asked to have a seat. "Mrs. Lorimar, we need to ask you a couple of questions. I'm sorry to intrude on you at such a time, but we're doing our best to find out who murdered your husband."

"Yes, I appreciate you getting on the job so quickly." She sniffled into a tissue.

"Ma'am, first off we know that your husband belonged to the BBB. Did he belong to any other organizations? Lodges, societies, that sort of thing?" Matt had pulled out his notebook and a pen.

"Yes, he belonged to a lodge – the Royal Order of the Scimitar. I always thought it was silly myself – secret handshakes and closed meetings. It always seemed like an adult version of a boy's club. But he had such a good time there…" She started crying again.

"Do you know if Richard Bogard or Reese Smithson were in the order with him?" Matt and Hoyt had exchanged a look.

"Well, I don't know. He would never tell me much about the meetings – they were supposed to be secret. About all he would tell me was what they had for dinner." She thought for a moment. "But I believe he had a group picture – yes, it's in his office. Right through here." They followed her right along with the older lady. Mrs. Lorimar searched through the drawers in the desk and found the picture in a manila envelope. "Here it is." She handed it to Matt and he and Hoyt both studied it.

"Here." Matt pointed out Richard Bogard.

"And here's Smithson." Hoyt pointed to a smiling man on the third row. "Mrs. Lorimar, would you mind if we borrowed this until I can make a copy?"

"Go right ahead if it will help you catch whoever did this." She started to tear up again.

"Ma'am, would you mind if we looked around in here? It might help." Matt just had a feeling that they would find something else useful.

"Please do." She came back around the desk.

"Do you know any of the other men in the photo?" Hoyt had pulled out his notebook and was ready to take down names.

"Do you think it was one of them that…you know…" She was afraid to even say the word murder.

"We don't know, but this is the first connection that we've found among the men that have been killed other than the fact that they belonged to the BBB." Michael and Mrs. Lorimar went back into the living room while the older lady stood watching Matt.

"I've seen you on TV before, young man." She had a slight smile on her face.

"You have?" Matt was somewhat taken aback.

"Yes, you're a private investigator aren't you?"

"Yes ma'am." He stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"You and that policeman out there caught the man who hurt my other daughter, Lisa Spaulding."

"Yes ma'am, she lives over in Silver Lake, right?" Matt remembered her from a case that he had worked with Hoyt. His secretary Chris' ex-boyfriend had been attacking and raping women that looked like her. Matt had killed him in a gunfight at the Hollywood Reservoir. He smiled at the lady. "How is she doing?"

"Much better. She couldn't sleep until that man was dead." She sat down in a chair across from Matt. "I owe you a lot, Mr. Houston."

"No ma'am, you don't owe me a thing. I was just doing my job." He was almost blushing. Not many people recognized him. "I'm just glad she's okay now." His cell phone rang. "It's my wife." He answered the call. "Hi."

"Hi yourself. I take it you've already been in the office this morning?" CJ and Catey had just gotten to work and were getting settled in.

"Yeah, Hoyt and I were using the computer. We've come up with a lead. I'm looking through Mr. Lorimar's desk right now at his house. Can I call you back?"

"Sure. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you, Babe. 'Bye." He hung up, truly blushing this time as he looked up and caught the lady smiling at him. He had laid his phone on the desk and she could see the picture of CJ and Catey that he had up for wallpaper.

"May I?" She pointed to the phone. Matt handed it to her. "Oh she's just adorable! And your wife is absolutely beautiful. I understand that man had kidnapped her and another lady the night that you caught up with him."

"Yes ma'am." Matt took the phone back and looked at the picture. "That was about three weeks before my wife, uh, got pregnant." He grinned up at her. "I was scared that night that she might have been then." He looked back down at the picture. "We've been best friends since we were ten years old."

"That's so sweet." She got up from the chair and started back into the living room. "I know you're going to catch whoever did this, Mr. Houston. Thank you." She turned and went in to be with her daughter.

Matt went through the desk and was about to leave until he thought to check underneath the drawers. Sure enough, there was something taped under the bottom of the top left hand drawer. Matt pulled out his gloves and put them on, then emptied the contents of the drawer on the desk and flipped it over, revealing an envelope. "Hoyt, can you come back here for a minute, please?"

Michael walked in and stood in front of the desk. "Go ahead and open it."

"I'm going to take a picture of it, just to be on the safe side with Cheryl." He grinned at the cop as he snapped a picture with his phone. Both of the ladies had come back into the room. Matt carefully pulled the envelope off of the drawer bottom careful not to tear the tape. He pulled out his knife and sliced the top of the envelope. Inside were pictures. Bogard, Smithson, Lorimar, and two other men, all wearing turbans with a scimitar insignia on the front were posing with a woman in the picture who appeared to be a stripper. Mrs. Lorimar had a shocked look on her face.

Hoyt leaned forward. "Mrs. Lorimar, do you recognize anyone else in this picture?"

"No. I…" She was obviously shocked.

Matt looked at Hoyt. "Maybe they shouldn't look at these."

"No, I have a right to see them." Mrs. Lorimar had steadied herself. "Just because he had his picture made with her doesn't mean he did anything wrong." Hoyt nodded and Matt walked around the desk and held the pictures so that all four of them could see. There were five more pictures, each one showing the stripper sitting in each man's lap.

When all of the photos had been seen, Matt turned them back around and was looking at the background trying to get an idea of where it was. "Hoyt, there's something in the background."

The lieutenant looked and nodded. "It looks like a logo of some kind."

Matt went through two more of the pictures. "Bingo. Here," he turned the picture around so Hoyt could see, "it's in Vegas. That's the Bellagio – you know the big fountain? That's it." He pointed to it in the picture. "This looks like it's right across from it."

"Mrs. Lorimar, do you know when your husband went to Las Vegas?" Hoyt had turned to face the recent widow.

"Last December." She still seemed somewhat shocked.

"I'm finished in here." Matt looked at Hoyt. "Have you got an evidence bag on you?"

"Yes, here." He opened up the bag and Matt carefully put the pictures back in the envelope and down inside of the bag. Michael sealed it up and initialed it. "Ladies, thanks so much for your help. We made need to call on you again."

Mrs. Lorimar nodded. "Yes, that's fine, Lieutenant." She turned and looked at Matt who felt a little bad about her having to see the pictures. "Mr. Houston, Mother told me who you are." She extended her hand. "Thank you for what you did for my sister. And now for my husband." Matt shook her hand.

"Just doing my job, ma'am -but thank you." He followed Hoyt out of the house and down the front walk.

As they headed back to get Matt's truck and go to the station Hoyt looked over at the private eye. "You've got quite a fan club back there, PI." He was surprised to see the man blush.

"Shut up, cop." Matt pulled out his phone and called CJ. "Hey, I didn't mean to cut you short when you called."

"You didn't – I just wanted to check on you. How's it going?" She was looking through Matt's school books again. He brought her up to date on the investigation. "Good catch, Matt. Is there anything that I can do on this end?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm fixing to swing by there and get my truck. I'll come up and see you for a minute." Hoyt started making kissing noises and Matt reached over and slapped him on the arm. "On second thought, I may need you to come bail me out. I just hit a cop." He reached over and smacked Michael again.

"Alright now, you boys behave. I'll see you in a little bit. Love you."

"Love you, too. 'Bye." He hung up and Hoyt was laughing again. "What is so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. You two are just…I don't know. Like a pair of starry eyed kids in love." He cut his eyes over at Matt. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm glad you two finally woke up."

"Well then quit making fun of us." Matt looked out the passenger side window. "Of course, I guess since you're so old and all, you can't really do anything BUT be jealous."

Hoyt had just stopped at a red light and reached out and slapped Matt on the arm. The private investigator started acting like the cop was trying to kill him, causing the older man and woman in the car next to them at the light to give Hoyt a dirty look.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

When Hoyt dropped Matt off at the Houston Building the private investigator made a trip up to the penthouse to say good morning to his wife and daughter. As he stepped off of the elevator, Chris looked up. "Wow! That beard is really coming in fast." She grinned at him.

Matt rubbed it. "I'm not so sure Catey likes it, but maybe when it gets a little fuller she won't mind so much." He walked on up the steps and into CJ's office where he found her looking at his school books and Catey busy playing in her playpen. He walked over and gave CJ a peck on the cheek. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too. You know this stuff is kind of interesting." She tapped on the book that she had open.

"Yeah, it is. I was never too thrilled with Science when I was in school, but this is different. More exciting I guess." He pulled her up into his arms and gave her a real kiss that left her totally breathless. From her playpen, Catey squealed.

"I think she's jealous, Dad." CJ watched as he went over and picked up his daughter.

"And good morning to you, Miss Whistle Britches." Catey squealed and giggled again, then reached up and patted on her dad's face. Once again she pulled back her hand and looked at it, then touched his face again with a puzzled look on her face. Matt grinned. "I promise when it grows out a little bit more it'll be softer, Sweet Pea." He kissed her cheek. "She's definitely got her mama's eyes." He looked over at CJ. Catey leaned forward and kissed him on the nose. Matt wiped off the slobber as he laughed and then put the baby back into the playpen and handed her a cloth book which she immediately put into her mouth.

Walking back over to CJ he sat down on the corner of her desk. "Hoyt is supposed to be calling Vegas to see what he can find out about the pictures that we found." He got quiet for a minute. "You know, the National Finals Rodeo is always in Vegas in December." Matt and CJ looked at each other and he picked up the phone and called Hoyt and told him.

"So there would be the what-do-you-call-it: calf roping?" Hoyt set down his coffee cup.

"Oh, definitely. The Finals are like the Super Bowl of rodeo. The big deal." Matt had been to watch the finals several times since he was a teenager. "I'll be over there in a few minutes." He hung up, kissed CJ once more and took off for the police station. The private investigator skipped the elevator once again and headed up the stairs two at a time. Hoyt was on the phone when he walked in and sat down in the chair in front of the lieutenant's desk.

"Uh huh. That's what my friend here tells me. Okay, well any help you could give us would sure be appreciated. Thanks a lot." He hung up and looked over at Matt. "That was a detective in Vegas. He said he would get us a list of all of the calf ropers who participated in the finals last year."

"Well, I do hope you realize that it could possibly be someone who was in the audience. Cowboys from all over go there every year." Matt scratched at his beard. "I think we need to try to find out who the lady in the picture was. Do you still have them here?"

Hoyt handed them across and Matt took a closer look. "You know, she might not be a stripper – she could be a showgirl." He put the pictures back on the desk. "I don't really remember – what's across from the Bellagio?"

"You're asking me?" Michael looked somewhat surprised. "I've never been to Vegas."

"Oh. Well, if you'll recall the last time I was there it was only for a few minutes." He grinned over at the cop. Matt and CJ had gone to Vegas the year before on a serial murder case for Hoyt. When they arrived the suspect was leaving and headed right back to Los Angeles and the pair never even got out of the van in Vegas.

"Yeah, it seems like CJ was a little disappointed." He pulled his keyboard over and went to Goggle Maps. "Well," he turned the monitor so Matt could see, "there's the La France directly across from the fountain."

"Alright, so we call and see if they'll let us know if our guys were registered there last December. Or you might have to call your detective friend back. I don't know if they would give it to us or not." Matt leaned back in the chair.

"Guess we can try. All they can do is say no." Hoyt found the phone number and made the call, and after being shifted from the front desk to one of the managers, he was able to get what he needed. He thanked the lady and hung up. "She's emailing the list to me."

"Congratulations. You can be a smooth talker when you have to be." Matt smiled over at the lieutenant.

"I guess that's a compliment coming from you." Hoyt checked his email. "Bingo." He hit a button and walked to the outer office to get the printout. Coming back in the door he saw Matt looking up at the light fixture over his desk. "What are you…? Damn! Is that where you put that camera? I've looked there a hundred times. Get the thing down."

"Hoyt, I believe you need to go downstairs and talk to one of the staff psychologists – or psychiatrists or whatever they are. You're becoming paranoid, my friend." Matt had a completely innocent look on his face.

"Who could blame me? I have to deal with YOU on a regular basis!" He stomped over to his chair behind the desk, glanced up at the light fixture, scowled at Matt, and then began reading through the list. "Bogard, Smithson, and Lorimar are on here."

"Okay, so now we need to go talk to one of the others and see if they can tell us who the other two guys are – we could at least warn them." He thought for a minute. "Are there any names on there that are familiar to you?"

Hoyt read down through the list. "I'll be…this guy here is my dentist." He and Matt both got up and took off for the elevator. After waiting for over a minute, Matt headed toward the stairwell and Hoyt followed along. The private investigator went quickly down the steps and Michael struggled to keep up. "Houston! Good Lord, are you getting ready for the marathon or something?"

"Nope, I'm in a hurry plus I'm trying to keep from gaining too much weight – CJ likes to feed me, ya know." He hit the bottom of the stairs and opened the door to the parking garage. Hoyt wasn't far behind but was slightly out of breath. Matt wasn't even breathing hard.

"I gotta quit hanging out with you – you're making me look bad." Hoyt gave Matt a disgruntled look.

"Let's go in the truck – you're too tired to drive. Come on, Gramps." He chuckled as he opened the door and slid behind the wheel.

"Oh no you did NOT just call me Gramps!" Hoyt got into the truck.

Matt pulled out of the parking space and headed for the street. "Where are we going anyway?"

"76773 Figueroa." He cut his eyes over at Matt. "I gotta ask you something. What kind of exercise do you do?"

"Well here lately I've been doing a lot of stairs." Matt grinned over at Hoyt but noticed that he wasn't smiling. "Hey, I was just joking back there."

"I know." Hoyt looked out the passenger side window. "We're supposed to keep in shape – cops. But when I get called out in the middle of the night and don't get home until almost midnight some nights I don't know how they think I can."

Matt felt bad about what he had said. "Look Michael, I'm sorry." He looked over at his friend. "I don't get as much exercise as I would like most of the time. I swim when I can – but sometimes the hours that I keep make it almost impossible. And then there's the gym at the office. But I've got to tell you, I sure don't use it like I used to do. You know Vince and I would hash out cases down there while we were working out." He drove on in silence for a minute. "You know you're welcome to use it anytime you want, Michael. Maybe we could try to set up a time – you know, kinda help each other out."

"Really?" The cop looked over at Matt. "That could be pretty fun." He mulled it over. "Of course I don't know why I'm feeling so bad – after all you have played professional baseball." Michael grinned and laughed. "Of course it was only one game and they were absolutely desperate for help."

"Uh huh. So this is what I get for trying to be nice? Humph." Matt was trying to look mad but cracked up. "I wish I hadn't had so much on my mind when I got to play in that game. I really didn't get to enjoy it, knowing what was ahead." Matt thought back to the game that he had pitched for the Mano's baseball team in Honolulu. He had just found out for certain that he had discovered the hideout of the Middle Eastern terrorist that he and Uncle Roy had been searching for using a satellite. He had headed out with a SEAL team the very next day and had been worried that he wouldn't make it back to CJ.

"Yeah, that would stink." Neither man spoke for a couple of minutes. "There it is – on the right."

Matt pulled into the parking lot for the strip mall where the dentist was located and they went inside. After talking to the receptionist and explaining the situation, the two detectives were ushered back into the private office of Dr. Ralph Stinson. The dentist came in a couple of minutes later looking confused and concerned.

"Lt. Hoyt? What can I do for you? Sherri said something about a murder investigation?"

"Yes, we need your help. These men belong to your lodge – can you identify them for us? I'm sure you've probably heard that three of them have been murdered." He held out the picture of the five men posing with the woman.

"Yes, I have. I was wondering what was going on. Oh yeah, this is Mark Dansk and Terry Gabriel. Where was this…ohhhhhh…" He stopped in mid-sentence, looking a little embarrassed. "Uh, the order went to Las Vegas last December."

"Yes, we know. We spoke to Mrs. Lorimar this morning when we found these pictures in her husband's home office. Do you know how we can get in contact with these two men?"

"Yeah, sure. I've got a directory over here." He opened a drawer on his desk and looked up at the two men. "Do you think Dansk and Gabriel are in danger?"

"It looks like it's a possibility." Hoyt breathed a big sigh. "I'm glad I recognized your name on the hotel register."

"I am, too. And I'm also glad I'm not in that picture you've got there." Dr. Stinson found the directory and looked up the names of the two men and jotted down their phone numbers, business addresses and home addresses. "Here you go."

"Thanks Dr. Stinson, you may have just saved their lives. Do you have any idea who this woman in the picture is by any chance?" He held it out for the dentist to see again.

"No, I don't. Some of the guys get a little wild on these out of town trips and conventions. Of course, I don't know that they actually did anything wrong…but some of the members seem to forget that they're married, if you know what I mean."

"Yes. Unfortunately I do. Thanks a lot." He looked at the names. "Gabriel is the closest. Let's go there. Thanks again, Doctor." He and Matt went back out and hopped in the truck and headed to the address of Terry Gabriel's office. "This guy is an insurance salesman. I'm going to call ahead and make sure he's there." Hoyt dialed the number and was connected with Gabriel who was somewhat shocked by what had been going on with the members of the lodge.

"Lieutenant, I can't believe anyone would actually be doing this." Gabriel was clearly scared.

"Mr. Gabriel, we'll be there in about five minutes. It would be best if you didn't see anyone until we get there." Hoyt looked at Matt who mashed down on the gas pedal a little more.

"Alright, I'll be here." He hung up.

"Maybe you should try the other guy and give him a heads up?" Matt just made it through a yellow light.

Hoyt dialed again, putting the phone on speaker, and Mark Dansk answered the phone himself at his print shop. When Hoyt identified himself and told the printer that his life might be in danger, the first words out of his mouth were "Oh, my God."

"Mr. Dansk, I'm going to send a patrol car over there to pick you up. I need you to lock the doors and stay inside until they get there."

"Yeah, okay." He hung up.

Hoyt dialed dispatch and had the nearest car sent over while he and Matt were picking up Gabriel. "At least if the two of them are at the station the killer can't get to them. I sure would like to know the story behind all this."

"I've got a feeling Dansk is going to be the one to ask. He sounded terrified." Matt pulled into the parking lot and the pair went inside the insurance office and escorted Gabriel out to the truck.

Matt looked in the rearview mirror and saw the fear in Gabriel's eyes. "Mr. Gabriel, could you tell us who the woman is?"

The man closed his eyes and nodded. "We went to Vegas last December. Rich Bogard said he knew of a strip club where we could pay the manager and pick out whichever woman we wanted and…you know, she would spend the night with us."

"And…?" Matt looked up in the mirror again.

"And like idiots, we went along with it. Well, most of us did. Mark Dansk decided that it wasn't such a good idea and left. Anyway, they uh…you know with her and Bogard got kinda rough. She got mad and wanted to leave but he hit her, knocked her down and she hit her head on the corner of the bed frame. I took off. I hadn't done anything so I didn't figure it was my problem. Bogard did it; he needed to deal with it."

"So you went back to your hotel room." Hoyt was turned around in the front seat looking at the man.

"Yeah, I just stayed in my room the rest of the night. We checked out and came home the next morning." Gabriel looked out the window. "I don't know what happened with the woman."

"We don't either but we're sure going to find out." Hoyt turned back around to face the front of the truck again.

Once they were back at the station, Hoyt put Gabriel in one of the interrogation rooms and had an officer guarding the door, while he and Matt went into another of the rooms and spoke with Mark Dansk. "Mr. Dansk, we've heard Terry Gabriel's version of the events that took place in Las Vegas last December; now we want to hear yours."

"I didn't have any part in what happened with that woman. After we got her to that hotel room, I…I chickened out and went back to my room. Darren Lorimar told me later on what had happened."

"And what did he tell you exactly?" Matt leaned back and propped his feet up on the corner of the table.

"He said that everything was fine until Bogard starting getting rough with her – trying to choke her and stuff. She tried to leave and he hit her. When she fell her head hit the bedframe. It killed her. They made sure nothing was left in the room that would point to them – you know fingerprints, DNA, anything like that. Darren said Bogard kept saying that's what she got." He shrugged his shoulders. "But I wasn't there – I didn't do anything."

"You were an accessory after the fact – you knew what had happened and you didn't report it." Hoyt sat down next to Matt.

"But I didn't even have sex with her and I sure didn't hit her!" He looked back and forth between Hoyt and Matt.

"But you didn't help her either, now did you?" Matt spoke quietly. "Do you know what her name was?"

"Tamara Norwood. That's what she told them when they hired her." Dansk looked like he wanted to throw up.

"Did she mention if she had a boyfriend or husband by any chance?" The private investigator had put his feet back on the floor and had his elbows leaning on the table now, slowly swirling the coffee in his styrofoam cup.

"She said something about a boyfriend. I don't remember his name." The printer was looking at his hands and rubbing at the ink that stained them.

"Did she happen to say what he did for living?" Hoyt tapped on the side of his empty cup.

"Yeah, he worked for some ranch around there."

"Do you remember a name?" Matt watched as the man ran his fingers through his hair.

"Eagle's Nest I think."

Matt and Hoyt both got up and went to the lieutenant's office where they Goggled the name Eagle's Nest Ranch. "There it is." Matt pointed to it. "Think it's time to call back your detective in Vegas, bud."

"Uh huh." Hoyt sat down and found the number that he had called earlier and told the detective what they had found out.

"I'll be…yeah, that's one of our unsolved murders. Great. Okay, I've got the name of her boyfriend here and he does work at the Eagle's Nest."

"What's his name?" Hoyt was waiting eagerly.

"Clay Simmons. Age 32, brown hair, brown eyes, five-eight, 175 pounds. Look I'll send you what I have on him. He's got a record."

"Okay, I'll send you what little I've got on these guys when I get it written up. I really appreciate your help on this Det. Louis."

"Hey, we're both getting something out of the deal. Thank you." The detective in Vegas hung up.

"Now we're getting somewhere. We know who we need to look for, but I think the easiest way to catch him will be to set a trap." Matt walked over to the window and looked out at the traffic below. "There's no way of knowing which one he's picked out for his next target, but maybe if we make it look like one of them is still at work while the other one isn't…" He turned and looked at Michael.

Hoyt nodded. "That seems like the only way to do it. The question is which one do we want to try?"

Matt sat down on the couch. "We would stand a better chance of being able to hide at the insurance office – or at least I would think so."

"Okay, let's set it up."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Matt parked his truck across the street in the parking lot of a tire shop and he and Michael walked across to Terry Gabriel's office. He had looked around and hadn't spotted anyone watching. They went in and told the secretary to leave just like she would on any other afternoon, but to make sure that the door was left unlocked. Gabriel's car was still in the parking lot, so as far as anyone could tell the salesman was still in the building. Both men were wearing their bulletproof vests. Matt looked down at his. "I'm glad this guy hasn't been using a knife." He grinned at Hoyt.

"I'm glad you're still alive to joke about it." Hoyt shook his head at Matt. The private investigator had been stabbed about a month before. His vest could handle bullets, but not a knife.

They waited over three hours after the secretary left, until they finally heard someone come in the door about 8:00pm. The two detectives exchanged a look. Matt took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He could see a shadow coming across the threshold of Gabriel's office door, but before that he heard the distinctive sound of cowboy boots scraping on the floor. He nodded at Hoyt. They waited until the man was completely inside the office before stepping out from behind their cover. Hoyt spoke: "Hold it right there, Simmons. Hands in the air." Matt could see the taser in the man's hand and a .22 pistol in the waistband of his jeans. The cowboy turned toward Hoyt and pointed the taser at the cop.

"Drop it." Matt had stepped up right behind the man. He reached down and carefully pulled the pistol from his waistband as Simmons dropped the taser.

"He's one of the guys that killed my girlfriend." Simmons turned slightly and looked at Matt.

"Actually this guy didn't; but he knew about it and didn't report it. The cops in Vegas already know about him and the others." Matt put the man's pistol in his own waistband as Hoyt pulled out the cuffs and placed Simmons under arrest, then called for a patrol car to haul the man to the station.

After he was read his rights, Simmons refused to say anything, but the evidence against him spoke for itself. When he was searched he was carrying two of the piggin' strings just like the ones used to kill the other three men and Hoyt was sure that the .22 was the same one used on the others. Ballistics would have to confirm it.

As he headed toward the stairs to go home, Matt heard Hoyt calling him. He turned to see the lieutenant coming up the hallway toward him. "Hold up there."

When he got to the door, Hoyt reached out and opened it. "Last one to the bottom is a rotten egg." He took off down the stairs as Matt casually walked down, smiling all the way.

"Way to go, Gramps!" Matt could hear the cop cursing him all the way down the steps.


End file.
